The Cost of Perfection
by Killer Moth
Summary: Deep Six coda. With all the Tridents sealed away, one Trident plots his escape. Rated M for dark themes.


Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.

Author's Note: This is based from a dark observation I saw at the end of "Deep Six." It isn't mocking on the subject of what I'm going to be writing on, just a means to a logical end that Wolfman gave me with this episode. This is rated R for good reason and if you can't deal with the theme of cannibalism, then I suggest you go with one of my R/Rs or elsewhere. If the subject was less extreme, I'd would surprise and let the readers figure out their own conclusions. Either way, you've been warned. I won't be so generous next time.

Don't ask why I am writing this. I certainly don't know.

Forgive my betas as they have real life to deal with first.

Timeline: Four days after Deep Six.

Ready Go!

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The water's edge is oddly calm, I muse to myself. I see the other Tridents under the water, inferior as they are, use their tridents to blast through the landslide created by the surface dwellers, but the tridents themselves are weak, as they have been trying to cut into the fallen solid rock to not much avail. Inferior air breathers, don't they realize they have sealed their own deaths by trying to halt the great progress of the almighty Trident! It makes no difference.

A rumble of my stomach distracts me again as it has for four tides. Silly hunger, thinking it could distract me from my plans. Inferior feeling, my body dare to try to betray me? Bah! I'm above such concerns, for I am Trident, soon to be God of the Sea, perhaps…further. Must dwell on that instead of this worthless hunger. A copy approaches me. Silly fool, why he doesn't know better and spare me his prattle?

"Why aren't you working on removing the rocks like the others?" He dares to order me.

"Because you fool, I am the original Trident! I am above such petty concern!" He will soon see the penalty of challenging me.

"You are not the original Trident! I am! And I command you to do your job!"

All I can focus on his sneering face, his _malformed_ face. His face doesn't have the indentations that I and the others have. He is not me; he will never be me, with that…_face_ and those…_eyes_. My blood boils at this atrocious sight.

"You seem able bodied, you do it. I am above your prattle _and_ your task."

"Insolent fool. You are forgetting how we must escape to plunder. If you are perfect, then you, like us would see the need to escape."

I should by divinity, kill him for such questioning of my perfection. But not yet, the other fools want to waste energy chipping away, let them, a public death would be a distraction. And then once I am free, I shall take over the copies and show them and everyone else that I am perfection incarnate and will kill that green imp and that Atlantian for daring to be such an intrusion to my grand design.

"Of course I see the need. But since you all are doing my job, why shouldn't I be able to supervise and ensure success that way?"

"You are hiding within laziness. Perfection is achieved by work, and you must be defective for thinking such things."

He accuses _me_ of being lazy? Oh, his life is now…

"I should kill you for such mutiny but we need more of us since the hatchings are still incubating. The sooner you stop being selfish, the sooner we can eat. It has been far too long since we had a meal. Almost four tides, it feels like." He thinks he can kill _me_. I shall relieve him of his delusion…and everything else.

"Selfish? Selfish? I am excellence. I am above such mortal trappings; I will soon be a god."

"And a dead one if you don't eat. Or you so flawed that you don't felt the hunger rumbling within you?"

"You accuse me of being flawed? I am above…" That is when my wretched stomach chose the worst time to chime in with a rumble.

"You above that, are you? Perfection in this marvelous form has a price and if we don't find a way to escape, we shall starve. We can't eat the fluid from the sacs nor can we be so low as to lick rocks, which are clean of slime here anyway. We have nothing." This imposter is enjoying himself, mocking my perfection. But sadly, he may have a point. I have been weaker in my superlative strength as of late. I need to eat so I can maintain my perfect image but what is there to eat? But what food can I find that shall allow itself to be graced by my consumption?

"I suppose you Excellence would be lost if we evaded the facts." I seethe while I acquiesce.

"Excellent, now join the body." That will be his last order if I have anything to say about it.

I growl silently to myself as I join the others as they blast and dig. Perfection is above such menial labor. I vow that I will crush those who force me to be so lowly. Like the surface dwellers and that….that…I can't believe that _copy_ shares any of _my_ genetic coding.

And to complete matters, my stomach growls again. I will not submit to mere hunger. I am excellence. I am perfection.

And the world will see…as soon as I free myself.

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After my chipping away for nothing, I tried to sleep and couldn't as my stomach continue to growl. I stare at my trident. Useless device. If the device was so powerful, then the tridents combined would have destroyed the avalanche. But no, it's all useless. I watch them sleep. Fools, perfection should be eternal vigilance.

And I will achieve perfection and I shall _feast_ on the spoils of my enemies. Once again, my stomach continues its mantra. But what is there to eat? There is no slime from the rocks of this cave and even so, never. Perfection should not be forced to become like a bottom feeder just to survive. But I must feed. That wretched copy. I was fine until he pointed out this glaring hunger.

I need to get away from them and stretch but where? The water and the land here are filled with copies. I sigh and notice the empty caves. We explored the caves and found no possible openings to escape. But at least it would give me a chance to get away from these flawed fools.

I pick up my trident, free myself of the rows of sleeping copies and walk off, I look back and I see the sleeping fools. Soon you all will see what true perfection is. My hunger increases as I walk onward to a cave on the far side of the hatching. As I walk further and further, I see the illumination of the rocks, giving an incandescent glow. It would be almost beautiful if I wasn't distracted with these petty concerns.

I will plan a revenge most exquisite. With the copies hating the surface dwellers, I can use them as cannon fodder and eliminate those imperfections. Leaving only me, proving how I am superior and how I always win.

Just have to separate the kelp from the slime of my enemies and my imperfect selves first. I hear footsteps. I charge to the trident to see that it is a copy, the same copy that tried to undermine my perfection earlier. The opportunity is too good to pass up.

"What are you doing here?" I boom at him.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I heard you stir and your rumbling stomach all over the place and followed the loud noise. Tell me, have you found some slime for yourself to eat?" He sneers.

"I was walking and mediating my…_our_ plan to get revenge on the surface dwellers." Fall for the bait. Go on.

"Well, admittedly I too was devising a similar plan."

"Oh really? What is your masterful plan?" Now it is my turn to return the sneer.

"The surface dwellers seemed to be a team, so by trying to separate them by divide and conquer, we can isolate and crush them. The green imp shall be last. He will realize the downfall when it is too late and see what perfection of Trident truly is."

"Exactly what my plan is." Excellence is derived from many outlets. It just takes the perfect hand to mold such worthless thoughts and make them rise to the surface.

"Really? Why didn't you say so before?"

"I…I was waiting for the perfect moment."

"You lie."

"Are you calling me a liar as well?"

"Yes, you are lazy, selfish, and now a liar. And…I see now, the truth. That you don't deserve to continue to be perfection like us. And you made my job easier by leading away from the others." I see his trident charging.

"Alone and vulnerable. Perfection wouldn't achieve such weakness." He smirks darkly as he adopts a defensive stance.

"Oh really? Well…let's see how you do against true perfection." I charge against him. He discharges his trident. I dodge and start to stab when he blocks with the staff.

"You are flawed, weak; you are not of the body." He spits at me.

"I am not of the body? What about you? Your face is flawed. It is smooth where it should be rough. You are an anomaly and excellence can't achieve with anomalies in the way!" I pull away, charging up my trident.

"I couldn't agree more and that is the only thing you and I will ever agree on." He charges his trident again.

"That and only one of us can walk out of here alive and to in order to use the title perfection, must show that he is above such need for weapons. You and I shall use the barbaric approach." I put down my trident, slowly. I figure with both of us starving from hunger, the less energy spent, by holding and fighting with our tridents, the better.

"Indeed, perfection should be achieved by being well versed in all aspects. Fine." He drops his near mine.

"Good, now we shall see who is the best." We lunge at each other, our hands interlocked; trying to crush each other's hands. I stare at my opponent, but the sight of his disfigured face sickens me. He repulses me in every way, mocking my excellence. My perfection.

I see my chance as I bite his neck, he screeches in pain and we still are in lock with each other. Fortunately we are so deep within the cave; the echo will die down before it reaches the others. I try to tear away as much flesh as I could, the blood leaking out on my teeth, before he could shove me away and throwing me to the ground.

"You bit me! You wish to consume excellence?"

"Consume excellence? Why would I want to consume something second rate?" I lick my lips and spit out the blood when I feel…when I feel….

How delectable it is. It's almost like nectar. So distracted I was from this epiphany, he lunges at me and pins me to the ground, his face to mine.

"I will feast on your eyes and then you will see how _you_ enjoy being consumed." My rage stirs. The last thing I wish to see is his baldness mocking all that I am. I continue to taste his blood as it stains on my tongue. The deliciousness, the flavor, my…hunger consuming me. I _need_ food; I must live to show all my excellence.

"Why would I want to be consumed? I know the food chain. Shark eats shark and like the humans, I need a utensil." I head butt him and push him off as he lessened his tension in that split second.

I run to the tridents but he jumps and tackles me down. "You said we weren't going to use them, you're going back on your word?"

"As you said, 'perfection should be achieved by being well versed in all aspects.' And that includes subterfuge, like to our targets and enemies. I'm merely splitting the difference, as you are an enemy."

"But perfection should keep honor, you are just proving how much you are not of the body." He struggles against me.

"Fool! I _am_ the body!" I growl and with what little force I could muster, push him off me, grab him by his head and stomach and toss him across the cave. He lands on his feet while I dove to the tridents. I force myself to stand as I grab a trident in each hand.

"And now it is time for the tissue to be sacrificed so the body can live." I charge at him, both tridents charging.

"Excellence must be whole but a flawed part would corrupt everything." He scoops up two rocks and launches one at my head; I dodge that one but then got hit by the other. My balance is distorting and I see a trap forming in my mind as I begin to fall down and feign fainting, the tridents, slowly letting descending out of my hands.

He slowly walks toward my fallen body, and then he begins to run away, sensing it is a trap. I rise and throw a trident at his running form. He hears my rustling and veers away from the path of the trident but I run to him and I chuck the other trident straight to his back, he shrieks in pain as I run and ram to push it in deeper and watch the device moves past his spine and to his heart.

"Now you have met the price for your presumptions. I am the original Trident. I am superior. I always win."

"Your flaws will undo you and the body will see how flawed you are…" His final words as he sputters up blood and then collapses on the ground, and all I do is sneer as he drew his final breaths.

"Worthless copy. You do not deserve to have the greatest name of all: Trident. You will be a figurehead, showing the body or anyone else the fate of those would dare oppose me." I say in a tirade as he is slipping away from consciousness and I about smile as this will be the last thing he'll ever get to hear. I keep him in position so he doesn't turn and face me and make my glorious perfection be the last thing he sees. He doesn't deserve such an honor.

As he chokes his final breath, I remove the trident from his worthless corpse, blood dripping down, staining the trident and my hands. I bring my right hand closer to my face. I often wondered what blood, my blood, looks like. I see the blood gelling, the taste of his blood has left my tongue. I continue to stare at the blood, remembering that wonderful flavor, that rush of power and taste.

I'm so hungry. So hungry. I need food, I need food. I feel the blood dripping on the ground and then I stare at his prostate form. He looks so…no! I am Trident! I will be a god and I won't stoop myself to such pedestrian survival tactics to climb my way to the top, and more to the point, this fool was flawed, and his blood could be flawed as well. My stomach rumbles again and I fall to my knees. No. No. I keep sensing the blood on my hand and I can't stop remembering how delicious it was on my tongue. No! I am Trident. I am above such mortal trappings. I am…I am…

I am hungry. I must feed so I can show everyone my excellence, my perfection. It is my being, it is my core and I must…_survive!_ I lap up the blood as it dribbles down my tongue and to my throat, the power I feel. I lap up more and more and feel my body become stronger as I fill the void within me. I consumed all the blood, and see that there is no more.

I need more to sustain myself. I don't care about his flaws anymore; my perfect body will destroy his flaws and make his strength mine. I see the blood dripping from his back begin to pool around on the ground. Blood on the ground? I will not sink so low. Then I stare at the blood soaked trident.

Yes. That would be more dignified. I stab him again and get the trident in, nice and deep. I remove it after it got stuck on his ribcage and find his beating heart on the prongs. Blood oozing everywhere. I take the heart in my hand, rise it up and drink in all the beautiful blood. I can feel myself getting stronger; my strength as it was before the cave in, returning.

But my stomach still is hungry. My hunger was sated for a few seconds but I need something solid inside me. I need actual…food. I feel and stare at his now stilled heart and I see that blood is the lifeforce but it is nothing without the heart, the true foundation of the body. The brain and the other organs are useless without it and I see that the heart, like the rest, is all flesh and meat.

But I am so over myself that I need to crossover to body parts? Body parts caked in that delicious blood? I lick my lips and stare as the blood seeps within that flesh. But blood is one thing, flesh is another. But I need to sate my hunger now so I can live another day. Should I deserve to die because of my pride? Can I achieve excellence if I lose who I am?

But then, if it weren't for the surface dwellers and the Atlantian, I could have been conqueror of the seven seas and then the surface world. It is _their_ fault I'm here. It is _their_ fault I have sunk so low. But I'll make them pay; I'll make them by ripping off their hearts and have them watch as they die. And I…and I…the hunger is getting so strong. I must…._feed!_

I angrily bite my teeth into the heart, the blood leaking down my teeth and my throat. I bite again and again, tearing away the flesh and have it remain in my mouth. I am unsure to swallow, despite how divine the taste is. But my stomach kept rumbling, my life sapping away from me. I must…follow through, _if_ I am going to live for another day.

I chew the terse flesh and swallow, the first bit of food I had in tides. It is…it is…so delicious. I want more. I rip and tear off the flesh again and again, reveling in the rush of power and ecstasy as my stomach is filled. I see now I have a new purpose. To do this to my enemies: to mock and sustain myself by feeding on their hearts and their blood and…I stare the fool's frozen form. Strong muscles. Suppleness. Firmness. And all that flesh being drenched in this glorious elixir. I soon have a heady feeling as I finish devouring the heart and swallow, blood dripping on my lips.

I pick up the trident and pause for only a second before I rip apart his right calf muscle, the beautiful blood gushing out, spilling on the dirty ground, instead of my mouth. I exert enough force to nearly rip the muscle right out of there. I see it dangling on a few hamstrings and I observe what strength it holds as it nearly takes forever to rip out of the body and then into my hands. I squeeze to feel its pinch. So neatly packed, so full of…blood and flesh. I eagerly begin to gnash through the meat and slurp up all the dripping blood.

After I finish carving him out, and had the best experience…and meal in my life, I buried his body using the trident as a shovel. This deep in a cave, no one will look for him. I know the others will be far too consumed on freedom, as he said to be, than to worry about him. After all, perfection's goals are to himself only, not anyone else's. But I wonder if the hunger will tap them like me. I doubt it. They are not worthy of basking in the brilliance of such an epiphany. But now I wonder about myself after this.

Am I Trident anymore? Who am I now? Am I excellence? Am I perfection?

I don't know. All I am anymore is…_hunger_. With the imperfect flesh reborn as perfection as it courses inside me and makes me feel stronger, I feel myself to be sated for…the first time in my life.

To know what a true predator I am now and for my enemies, you better watch out, Trident is on the prowl. And I won't stop until all of you, along with the world, are aware and are consumed by my perfection.

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Leave a review on the way out.

See you in the funny papers.


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